Day Twenty

Couldn't sleep last night. Not sure why. This is the quietest and darkest place ever. Eventually got up at 6am. Had a look outside, saw a few deer. Ann got up to have a look as well. She hadn't slept well either. We decided it was because it was too cold so put the big duvet back on and switched the fan off. Went back to bed and actually slept. Dreamt that there was a tiger outside killing a deer.

Got up again at about 7.45am. Had a quick shower and put Everton's game on TV as it was on live in the USA. Same as ever. Only got to watch the first half. Quite glad really, it was awful.

We headed out just before 9am as we had our first activity at 9.30am. Headed down in to Pagosa Springs and then a short distance west.

Arrived here. http://www.outbackatvrentals.com/

Their website isn't much, but the reviews on Tripadvisor were all good. I phoned them last night to book up, so we were expected.

The couple that run it were great. Explained everything, gave us a map of the routes, told us what perils lurked around. We saddled up on our ATV or quad bike and set off. Ann didn't want to drive her own one, so we got a two seater. We followed the lady to the beginning of the trails and then she turned back and we were off.

We spent three and a half hours exploring. Some parts of the trails were dirt roads and others were just piles of rocks. We completed an 11 mile trip to the top of one mountain.

A view from the overlook

When we got there, there was a bloke there with his young son. He started being American and telling us all about all the trails and that he had shot eleven elk on one of them. At this point I could sense Ann was thinking the same thing as me, but neither of us had the guts to actually push him off the edge. He said he was going and that we could follow him back down and he'd show us some other routes, but we politely declined. We waited until he was well gone before we left.

Ann asked me to drive more slowly on the way back down. I said I couldn't promise anything. Covered her in muddy spray. We went back down and then took another route. We had been warned about big ruts in the road and they weren't kidding. We managed to negotiate them with out falling down a gap and tipping over. Burned along a bit and stopped at this view.

Another mountain

It was now time to head back to base, so we turned around and set off. I made Ann drive a bit, which she did, before stopping and making me drive the rest, Back through the ruts and then on then onto the decent roads. Managed to open the throttle up a bit and top 50mph.

Dropped the ATV off and then headed home. It was fairly expensive but worth it. Could have stayed out for hours as it was so much fun. Not sure Ann agrees.

Got back to the cabin and had lunch. Cleaned ourselves up and headed out to Pagosa itself. Went here.

http://bogeyq.com/mini-golf/

The second tournament of the trip. It wasn't as nice as the last course, but it was much cooler. A woman shouted at me because she liked my NASA t-shirt. Bit odd. It was the slowest game ever, as there was a group of five lads ahead of us. They seemed to take an age because they were terrible.

Final scores were:

Roffe - 51
Knightley - 44

We then headed to what only can be described as a woman's shop. Basically had lots of expensive natural food that nobody would ever want. Seemed to be there for an age.

As we left I noticed that I had sunburn just above the knees, caused by sitting on the quad in shorts.

We headed back to the cabin and then into the garden for a game of horseshoes.

Then we made use of the a relaxing bit of kit.

It's a hard life!

Later on we saw more wildlife, more mule deer, hummingbirds and chipmunks. Had tea, watched the highlights of the Everton game which were on TV. Still woeful.

Tomorrow we have more exciting activities planned. Can't wait.

Moose watch - low

Chipmunks everywhere

States Visited - 15

Day Nineteen

Was sleeping well last night, until my phone rang at 6.30am. I say rang, it buzzed as it was on silent. I ignored it, presumed I could follow it up later. Then it rang again immediately. Thought it must be someone back home urgently trying to get hold of us because of an emergency. Got up and ran to phone. It was Wembury Grasshoppers Cricket Club. I declined to answer it. Presumed a message would be left. It wasn't. No idea why they interrupted my sleep, we don't play them again this season.

Tried to sleep again.

Eventually got up. Put Ashes on. Saw that we had scored just shy of 400 and now were struggling to take wickets, with Australia 100 for 0 not long before tea. Watched for a bit, before heading down to breakfast.

Came back up, put cricket back on, Australia had lost 4 wickets. Gutted.

We didn't have to check out until midday and seeing as we couldn't get in to our next place until 4pm, we lazed about in the hotel. I watched more Ashes, Ann read a book. We also printed some stuff out for an activity in a couple of days.

Eventually we packed up and headed out at 11.45am. Set the sat nav and headed north-west.

The journey was under two hundred miles, so we wandered along and admired the scenery. We started to feel we were really in the Rockies.

More mountains

We stopped for lunch in Chama. It was the largest Subway we've ever seen. It even had its own radio station, KZRM FM 96.1. Unfortunately, they weren't broadcasting, so I couldn't put some tunes on.

We kicked on the last sixty odd miles crossing into Colorado. It now means Ann is one ahead of me in states visited as she's been to Washington state and I haven't. I had Colorado as my equaliser, but now she's been there too.

Arrived in Pagosa Springs. We needed to get food as we are staying in a self catering place. Ann had been going on about stopping in Walmart before we headed up to the cabin. So when we reached the town I told her to get Walmart onto the sat nav. The car sat nav said the nearest Walmart was 45 miles away. We discussed why Ann had thought there was a Walmart in Pagosa Springs. She said in was mentioned in the literature of the cabin. It said all you need to worry about is stopping at Walmart. We came to the conclusion it meant go to Walmart on your way.

Looked on the sat nav for other grocery shops. Only two appeared. Set in the nearest one and went to it. Got there and parked up. It hadn't finished being built. Set in the other one. On the way we suddenly see a sign.....Walmart! There was a massive one neither sat nav knew about. We stopped, bought a load of supplies and then headed up to the cabin. It was another 12 miles or so north of Pagosa.

Eventually the road turned into gravel and got quieter and quieter. We kept going further into the wilderness. Then we saw the cabin. Pulled up into the drive only to scare a mule deer away. Gutted.

Got out the car and looked around. Oh my god. It is amazing. We let ourselves in (We had the code to the key press) and unpacked. I couldn't stop beaming as we looked around the cabin.

Awesomeness

We got everything in and set about familiarising ourselves with everything. As we did we kept gazing out at the views. We spotted wildlife. Also it rained heavily, the first rain of the trip.

My hum'bird

Alvin, Simon or Theodore?

Then a bit later we saw another mule deer. Took some photos before it went off. Then even later we saw two deer.

Doe a deer or two

Made ourselves some tea and sat and watched Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2. It was now dark out, so no point watching for anymore animals. Research shows that black bears are in the area, so here's hoping.

We also finished finalising our plans for the next two days. We are quite excited about what we are doing. Hopefully it all lives up to what we imagine.

Now going to bed, in order to get up early to see wildlife and watch Everton play. Also going out for a 9.30am start.

Chipmunks seen - 1

Bears seen - 0

Deer Watch - high

States Visited - 15

Day Eighteen

Got annoyed by breakfast TV this morning. With all the current goings on here in the USA, policemen shooting criminals, policemen shooting innocent people, criminals shooting policemen, criminals shooting innocent people who are trying to help them, mental people going in to cinemas and shooting/hacking and an 11 year old shooting and killing a 3 year old, it was good to see the American media addressing the undeniable gun problems by having segments about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner getting divorced and how people's arse implants are going wrong.

Soon got over my frustration by remembering that if we got through the last twelve days unscathed we could go back to seemingly normal England.

We headed south out of Santa Fe down the Turquoise Trail, a scenic byway which goes to Albuquerque winding between various mountains on its way. It gets its name from the mining that occurred in the past.


Ain't it cute

Our first stop was the town of Madrid. It was the reason we took the trail. Once there, we parked up and headed to the most recognisable building in the town, a building which didn't exist until it was built by the film crew who used the town for their film. When they left, they left the building for the town, who turned it into an actual proper building. Now it is a gift shop selling movie based merchandise to tourists. Needless to say we bought stuff, including more stuff for the kitchen.

Maggie's Diner

Madrid was the setting for the denouement of Wild Hogs, and the diner was the major location. We had a look around the rest of the town. We went in one place to get a drink, but there was a horrible smell in it, so we left quickly.

We crossed the road and went in here http://java-junction.com/ instead. We got a drink and shared a piece of cheesecake. We sat out in the small garden area. It was very nice, the temperature at that point was not to bad and the road was not as busy as you would think.

We then had a look in some other places as Ann wanted to spend more money, but luckily she couldn't find anything that she wanted.

We decided to carry on south to look at a bit more of the trail. After a while we stopped at a garage to get another drink. We sat in the car and had a look at the trail leaflet. We noticed the Sandia Crest was near by. It is the highest point on the trail at 10,678 feet and has views over 11,000 square mile area. There is a cable car that goes up it and also ski lifts which you can drive up the mountain to reach. We drove up, only to find the ski area is only open at weekends. We did, however, see our first wild animal, a deer, although it ran away before we could get a picture.

At this point we nearly gave up, but instead we found the cable car location on the sat nav. It was 29 miles away from where we were, in Albuquerque. We thought 'what the hell', so we drove to it. And what a good decision that turned out to be.

http://www.sandiapeak.com/

We parked up, got tickets and got straight on the 'flight' which was about to leave.

It took fifteen minutes to get to the top travelling over two and a half miles and rising four thousand feet. The views from the top were astonishing. We've been up mountains before, in Grand Teton and Mount Washington, but the difference here is that most of the surrounding area is so flat, meaning you can see for miles all around.

Albuquerque down below

We got a drink and sat down outside to take it all in. Got very excited by this sign.

Bear Watch might change

As we were sat opposite each other, we made a pact to watch for bears behind the other person. I then pointed out to Ann that if I said a bear was behind her, and it really was, she wouldn't believe me anyway. She agreed. Unfortunately there were no signs of bears.

We took a fair load of pictures of the views, but the final one was the best. Caught one of the cars coming up the mountain. Boring you might think. You are wrong!

Not sure that is how you are meant to ride it!

It was reminiscent of the bit from Moonraker with Bond and Jaws, except these blokes weren't fighting and didn't have metal teeth. We discussed if we would ride it like that if we had the opportunity. Ann said she would if she was sat on the roof. I said I preferred the inside.

Eventually we headed back down the mountain. Found out on the journey that a TWA plane crashed into the side of the mountain in 1955. The tram passes over near the crash site where a lot of wreckage still is. Presume that due to the terrain they just couldn't be bothered to collect it all in those days. They did collect all the bodies you'll be pleased to know. Originally investigators thought the two pilots had a suicide pact, but eventually they left an open verdict due to some evidence that the compass was faulty. The fact the plane took off from Albuquerque you would have thought even in poor visibility they would have known there was a mountain there.

Reached the bottom, went in gift shop, bought fridge magnet as ever.

Got back in the very hot car and started the long journey back to Santa Fe. Took a photo of the mountain from a distance.

Ain't no mountain high enough

Got back to Santa Fe. Realised we hadn't had lunch, so went straight for dinner. Tried this out having not been before.

http://www.firehousesubs.com/

It was good. Headed back to the hotel. Thought about a swim but couldn't be bothered. Heading off to Colorado tomorrow. looking forward to it.

Bears seen - 0

Moose Watch - Deer

States Visited - 14

Day Seventeen

After a day off yesterday, today was back in the car once more.

We packed up and headed out of Amarillo on I40. Had to travel over two hundred miles on it. Saw the famous Cadillac Ranch as we left.

Why I don't know

It is basically some cars half buried vertically. We drove by and took a photo. Others had stopped. Not sure why you would bother. We carried on. Not much happened. We had a game of Fuel Gauge Roulette, where you countdown the miles left to the gas station and the miles the fuel gauge says you have left. Ann made me take the sensible option, stopping with 30 miles worth of fuel left. I wanted to go all the way until our lunch stop which was another 20ish miles, but that was vetoed.

We stopped for fuel at the Flying C Ranch. Very odd place.

We stopped for lunch at the world famous (?) Clines Corner. http://www.clinescorners.com/ It used to be situated on Route 66, until it became defunct.

We bought some stuff in the gift shop to update our kitchen décor.

We kicked on and travelled north on a highway. This meant the views were much better.

More Like It

We arrived at Santa Fe around 4pm. We had gained a hour as well as we switched time zones.

Spent some time in our room researching stuff for tomorrow, before heading out for dinner at Denny's. Food was fine, but we had to wait forever to get the bill and pay. I started thinking about just getting up and leaving, but eventually we managed to get out. Went for a drive to downtown Santa Fe to have a nose. Probably will go back during the day tomorrow.

Moose Watch - Low

States Visited - 14

Day Sixteen

Today was a day of two halves.

The first half we did stuff, the second half, we didn't.

First of all, I missed the thunderstorm we apparently had in the night. I slept through it, Ann didn't.

Next, we did the extra washing and drying, before heading out.

First port of call, was the Jack Sisemore Traveland RV Museum. http://www.rvmuseum.net/

Jack Sisemore ran a simple gas station, before buying a RV (Recreational Vehicle, for those out of the loop (Basically a motorised caravan)) and hiring it out. He did this so he could use it when he wanted to. He ended up with about six of them. and eventually started a proper RV business in 1974. About 25 years ago, the company decided to set up a museum about RVs. It is based at their normal showroom.

We rocked up and went in. You say to the receptionist that you would like to see the museum and she takes you out the back to it. It is free to look around. It works through the ages of RVs and caravans, with examples they have collected over the years.

1923 - Model T Ford base

Also had a lot of Harley Davidsons

A classic Airstream trailer



The actual one used in the Robin Williams film RV: Runaway Vacation

We spent a fair amount of time looking around them all. You could go inside some of them and see how they were laid out. Eventually, we wandered back to the main building ready to leave. Ann then said to the receptionist that she wanted to look at a modern day RV, as the latest date was late 70s in the museum. The lady said the showroom is just through there, you can get in them and have a look. So we went and had a nose about. We liked the one that cost $90,000.

We eventually left with dreams of owning one and made our way to the second stop.

It was the American Quarter Horse Museum http://www.aqha.com/museum - Nope, me neither!

Ann had seen it, so decided it was worth a look. It actually cost money to get in, unlike the RV museum. It was a very nice building, big and spacious. As for the actual exhibits, it was pretty dull. If you like American Quarter horses, then this is the place for you. If not, best to avoid it.

I do now know what a quarter horse is. My initial idea that they were very small horses was wrong. In fact, they are good at running a quarter of a mile. That is it. They have they're own museum!

This was part of it.

Best bit about it as far as I was concerned.

Anyway, we looked about and then left.

Next we headed to the actual Route 66 that passes through Amarillo. There is a small section that is still older looking, original buildings, etc. We went and had a look with thoughts of parking up and exploring, but to be honest there wasn't much to see. We drove up and back, took a couple of photos, but that was about it.

Get your kicks...

We decided to head back to the hotel for lunch. We ate some more of the stuff we bought last night whilst deciding what to this afternoon and evening. We searched for something exciting to do, but could find absolutely nothing. Amarillo seems a bit dull.

Eventually, we decided to do nothing. We stayed in. Ann had a swim. We ate the last of the food for dinner and watched films on TV.

Tomorrow we head to Santa Fe. I have noticed that people don't seem to know how to get to all these places - Is this the way to Amarillo? Do you know the way to Sante Fe?


Talking Horse Watch - High

Moose Watch - Low

States Visited - 13

Day Fifteen

The good news was the only train noise last night was at 1am and I was still up at that point, so no harm done. Slept better than the previous night. Forgot to mention yesterday that the shower is great if you are four foot tall.

Saw the news that a 9 year old kid died at the baseball tournament in Wichita that I mentioned. He'd got hit by a player having a practice swing with a bat. Felt glum. Wondered how the poor lad who accidently hit him will ever get over it.

Had breakfast, then packed up again. Filled up with fuel and then got the hell outta Dodge. Travelled south west. We are finding interesting ways to pass the time on the journey's. K-Mullet is definitely a favourite, as this clip shows.

Also saw lots of wind farms. Slightly bigger than UK ones.

Barack's speech in action

We crossed into Oklahoma just south of Liberal, headed through the panhandle, before entering the Texas panhandle just north of Perryton. Stopped at Perryton for lunch. Went and got a Subway and found somewhere quiet down the road to eat it.

Arrived at Amarillo about 4pm. Checked in to the Holiday Inn Express and Suites. Went up to our room. It is very nice. The suite part isn't exactly a kitchen, more just a sink, microwave and fridge, but the air con works properly and there is no railroad or road nearby. We spent the late afternoon doing some laundry, the first time since we've been here. Washed a load of stuff and tumbled dried the stuff we could. The rest is now littered around the room drying. Have more to do tomorrow.

For dinner, Ann said she wanted to not eat out as we have done so for nearly every meal since we've been here, so we decided to go to Walmart and buy some food and to prepare it back in the 'kitchen'.  Whilst there we saw Michael Jackson or at least some woman in a face mask. Slightly weird to wear one in a supermarket. We also looked at cheap shoes as we need some for later in the trip. Ann managed to get into a conversation with a woman about our trip whilst sorting her shoes out. Ann then tried to make me buy women's shoes for myself.

Headed back and made dinner. It was great. Ann has just watched a reality show called 'My Giant Life', but now has Casino Royale on.

Moose Watch - Even lower than ever

States Visited - 13

Day Fourteen

Oh, what a night!

Cannot believe the night we had. Must be the most disturbed night's sleep that we've ever had. Firstly the air con doesn't seem to work properly. The room was just about cool enough but the system does not get it anywhere near the temperature you want. When it does come on, it makes an absolute racket. Then the road noise is loud as there is an old crappy window and a wooden door out onto the balcony, neither of which block any sound.

If that wasn't bad enough, at precisely 4am a train went by and as there is a level crossing across the street it blew its horn constantly as it approached. Check out yesterday's video to see how loud that it is. Another train went by later on.

At 6am the bloke next door decided to have a natter as loud as he possibly could. Plus a load of motorcycles started up early and revved about a bit.

All in all, a bit of a sleeping disaster. Needless to say our efforts to get up early, fell by the wayside.

When we did get up, we headed down to breakfast, which turned out to be fairly poor as well. Just a real lack of anything.

We won't be leaving positive feedback on Tripadvisor.

Eventually, we were ready to go out.

First stop was the Sante Fe trail. We headed about seven miles west of Dodge. Back in the day the trail passed by here, lots of people transporting stuff in wagons, etc. What is now there is the marks in the ground left by all the wagon wheels over the years. These are called wagon ruts.

http://www.nps.gov/safe/learn/historyculture/exhibits_dodge_city_ruts.htm

There are a few boards at the site telling you about things. We wandered along the constructed path to see the ruts. You can just about make them out, but the signage isn't that helpful as it doesn't actually show you where the are. When you look on Google earth, they are easily visible, but from the ground it is much harder to see.



Rut the hell?

The ruts can be seen right in the middle of the above picture, on the far greener hill. You might have to click on it to see it better.

We stayed for a bit before heading back to Dodge.

Next stop was the Boot Hill Museum http://www.boothill.org/.

The museum is built next to the original Dodge City Boot Hill cemetery, hence the name. Cemeteries got the name Boot Hill as they normally housed people who had died with their boots on, either having been murdered or hanged, rather than having a natural death.

The museum had exhibits about the area, including the Native Americans who were here before the Westerners turned up. We spent time looking at everything. Saw a buffalo.

Good bison

Next we headed out to the reconstruction of Front Street from circa the 1870s to watch this.

It was fairly enjoyable, although at times they did seem to get a little confused with what was going on. We had to sit in the sun to watch. It was midday, hence it was very hot. I could feel the sweat dripping as we watched. Ann took some action shots.

Good shooting, Tex

When the show finished we headed across the street into the buildings. Each one is laid out like the original would have been. Got a drink and a cookie in the café. Cooled off. Ann had sarsaparilla.

Henry Miller was as busy as a fizzy sarsaparilla

Next, Ann made go next door against my will. Then she made me do something else against my will. This picture is the result.

Oh dear

When we had finished looking around, we headed back to the car. We then did a bit of a drive around town having a general nose about.

For lunch we decided to go here.

https://www.sonicdrivein.com/

We didn't  know how it worked so we just drove in! Pressed a button. Ordered some food. Waited. Didn't know what happened next. We presumed that someone would bring our food out and take payment, but we weren't sure. As time passed we started to get nervous that we had got it all wrong, but eventually our fears were relieved when someone turned up with our food. We ate it, it was good.

Headed back to the hotel for a while, before we headed out later on.

Nipped to the IHOP next door for a quick dinner, before we headed to our main event, the Dodge City Round Up Rodeo.

We'd been to a rodeo before in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, during our first trip five years ago. But this was Dodge, cowtown, the home of the wild frontier. This rodeo seemed much bigger. We arrived about 15 minutes before it started. Got tickets and got in.

Some woman sang the Star Spangled Banner and then it was action stations.

First up was the bare back riding.

Next was the steer wrestling.

Team roping followed.

Then the tie down roping.

Saddle bronc riding. Pretty much the same as the bare back riding, so won't show that.

Then the women's barrel racing.

Then finally, the big tamale, bull riding.

It was a fabulous night. We both immensely enjoyed it. Glad we made the effort to go again. Once if was over we headed back, stopping off at the garage opposite the hotel to get some supplies.

It's been a really good day, considering how badly it started. Hoping for a quieter night tonight!

Buffalo Seen - 1

Moose watch - Low

States Visited - 11